Annual Conference sessions
Browse all conference sessions since 2010
Science ♥ society
2019
"The blob: a genius without a brain".
2019
"Mathematics as Material Play"
Equity & Inclusion
2019
A blindfolded experience to grasp visual accessibility requirements.
Business & fundraising
2019
The session explores different models for financing our institutions and tackling the biggest challenges we face in the search for a diversified and balanced model.
Strategy & vision
2019
The Supreme Court of the Ecsite Conference will decide whether virtual reality (VR) in museums and science centres is visceral reality providing vital reactions, or just virtually rudimentary and very rubbish.
Research, theory & evaluation
2018
James Beacham is a particle physicist involved in the ATLAS experiment at CERN. Watch a video of his keynote.
Science ♥ society
2018
“Go forth and collide, Multiply and create” is the motto of our Science Assembly. Inspired by religious revival meetings, we will offer you songs, laughter, inspiration, and meaning.
Exhibit development
2018
Are you facilitating creative team processes? Tired of always using the same old tricks? Interested in the wider potential of creative techniques? This session is for you.
Strategy & vision
2018
What is the future of science centre exhibitions? Do we need to stick to scientific phenomena, or focus on high tech and current science? Do we concentrate on objects or interaction? Or are physical exhibitions becoming obsolete in the digital era?
Research, theory & evaluation
2017
Professor Alice Roberts is an anthropologist, author and broadcaster, and Professor of Public Engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham. Watch a video of her keynote.
Science ♥ society
2017
Nina Simon has been described as a “museum visionary” by Smithsonian Magazine for her audience-centred approach to design. Watch a video of her keynote.
Research, theory & evaluation
2016
Dr. Frans de Waal is a Dutch-American biologist and primatologist known for his work on the behaviour and social cognition of primates. Speech title: Prosocial Primates: The Cooperative Background of Our Species
Equity & Inclusion
2016
Dr. Elizabeth Rasekoala is the President of African Gong – the Pan-African Network for the Popularisation of Science & Technology, and Science Communication. Watch a video of her keynote.
2015
Andrea Illy is the Chairman and CEO of illycaffè S.p.A., a family coffee business founded more than 80 years ago. Watch his speech on Ecsite's YouTube channel.
Strategy & vision
2014
Professor Ian Goldin is Director of the Oxford Martin School and Professor of Globalisation and Development at Oxford University. He delivered a speech entitled "Individual and Collective Wisdom and Failure".
Science ♥ society
2014
Ahmet Üzümcü is the Director general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The OPCW is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2013.
Strategy & vision
2013
Dominique Pestre is a social and political historian.Hos speech was entitled "What kind of innovation for the Anthropocene?". Watch the keynote on the Ecsite YouTube channel.
Strategy & vision
2013
Susan Greenfield is a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford and delivered a speech entitled “ The neuroscience of creativity – Making the most of 21st century technology”. Watch the keynote on the Ecsite YouTube channel.
Strategy & vision
2012
Martin Rees, Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, gave a speech entitled "Space exploration, life and the cosmos".
Strategy & vision
2012
Carlo Ratti, Professor at the MIT, gave a talk entitled "Future Cities - The real-time city is now real!"
Science ♥ society
2011
Derrick de Kerckhove, Professor at the Department of French and former Director of the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto, gave a speech entitled "Navigating among the shoals and reefs of social, state and business controls in science and technology".
Strategy & vision
2011
Michael Jones Chief Technology Advocate, Google, gave a speech entitled "The Billionth Visitor".
The first Ecsite Conference took place in 1989. Here you can browse all Conference sessions since 2010. Use the search engine to look for people, topics...
Looking for an older session? Our digital records start in 2007, with programme pdfs attached to each conference page.
When children come to a science centre they learn something from their experience. But what they learn and how learning is optimised are complex questions. Parents can play an important role in this, especially when very young children are...
More and more questions are raised by society to scientists. Some of them relate to risky topics which regularly hit the news. How can science centres tackle them? One way is to create a dedicated space in their institutions and produce science...
One-stop leisure locations where visitors can enjoy different kinds of recreation are becoming more popular. A number of science centres are preparing or have already undertaken an expansion of the science centre with other activities in order to...
Research, theory & evaluation
This session will discuss recent ideas and strategies on the complex topic of obtaining evidence of impact. An underlying aim is for us as a field to work together, rather than in isolation, to define, to determine, and to communicate to funders...
A maintenance insight. Have three different institutions found a good process? How is the key human factor involved and motivated in their task? Do they really understand what they are repairing? Are they sharing the same objectives than the...
Are we sometimes too cautious and colourless during the design process? Can a deliberately ‘risky’ approach sometimes enhance our creativity and produce a better visitor-experience?” In this session we will explore various...
In a modern world where different cultures often clash, scientific thinking is surely the best cure for intolerance. How can we help the public to evaluate information about science coming from sources which may or may not be reliable? Many...
What does it take to have volunteers in your science centre? There is no single optimal model of cooperation. Some science centres rely strongly on volunteers while others prefer full-time staff. Some accept them, but only as backstage people,...
When science moves, things are different. The projects displayed here share common goals: making science more popular, reaching the audience in its own environment. But travelling science is specific: you have to be creative because of the...
Research, theory & evaluation
This session will explore tensions in public engagement with science and technology (PEST) by reflecting on the concepts and practical dimensions of public engagement in research and practice. We will examine these tensions through a combination...
Art has long been a part of science centres but it can be argued that much of this art is “safe” i.e. not critical of science or how it is done. Would a science centre risk showing art encouraging visitors to question who researches what, to...
Emerging countries are now buying brands, expertise and activities from Western cultural institutions to enrich their urban development plans. For European museums, these international projects represent opportunities to build cultural diplomacy...
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